Gerald Honigman is a Florida educator who has done extensive doctoral work in Middle East studies, has lectured on numerous university and other platforms. He has debated many of the best Arab and pro-Arab academics in public debates and on television. Mr. Honigman is widely published in academic journals, magazines, newspapers and other publications.

Here in America, I am writing this while my family rests from a festive meal. It is Thanksgiving Day, and we must all certainly count the blessings which G_d has bestowed upon us.

No doubt, the primary blessing is life itself--so if the newest ceasefire between Arab and Jew in the Middle East saves lives, it may be seen as a good thing…I guess.

While too many Arabs still lust for the blood of Jews (look what they do to each other in places like Iraq and Syria if you have any questions), the hope still remains that someday--sooner rather than later--Arabs will want to build better lives for their children on Earth rather than end the lives of others' children. On that day, peace will prevail.

Yet, there is another disturbing side to this ceasefire news…

Coincidence or not, as President Obama gets ready to begin his new term in office, Israel--as it did after his first presidential win some four years ago--has abruptly cut short its war against Arabs in Gaza (openly sworn to Israel's destruction) who have deliberately launched thousands of rockets, mortars, and missiles against Jewish civilians.

G_d only knows the pressure that was brought to bear upon Prime Minister Netanyahu by the American President and Secretary of State. Both have a long history of utter nastiness with Israeli and other Jews who do not prostrate themselves low enough to their demands.

If a nation's cities and towns repeatedly being blasted, targeted, and terrorized are not just cause or casus belli for all out war and massive retaliation, then what then is? Would America settle for just a temporary ceasefire with such an enemy--merely allowing it to rearm after giving it a welcome breathing spell--or would Washington seek something much more lasting and effective to protect its citizens and property?

And yet, once again, allegedly "smart Jews" have seemingly allowed themselves to be hoodwinked or bullied in this regard.

The sad news (at least for some) is that while recently and outwardly saying some of the right things in support of Israeli innocents coming under attack, in reality we are likely witnessing the first concrete result of the Obama re-election in terms of the Middle East…Israel having its hands tied, being forced, by its "friends," to act against its own vital interests.

Young soldiers stationed on the Gaza border--knowing that some would likely be going to their deaths--clamored to be allowed to go in to finish the job so that some semblance of normalcy could be returned to their friends and relatives back home (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....asion.html).

But what's even worse are the terms of the ceasefire. While all the details have not been revealed yet, one of them calls for Israel to lift the naval blockade of Hamastan.

Keep in mind that that blockade is totally legal in international law. It exists because Israel faces an enemy which openly calls for its destruction, and the Jews have already intercepted ships loaded with major armaments headed to both Hizbullahland and Hamastan coming from Iran and elsewhere.

It does not require General Patton nor Napoleon to figure out that If Hamas has obtained tens of thousands of missiles, mortars, and such via tunnels coming from Egypt (yes, that very same Egypt which has a so-called "peace treaty" with Israel), imagine what would become available once ships are allowed to freely dock, unchecked, at the Arabs' Gaza ports.

Even assuming efforts will be included to thwart such eventualities, don't hold your breath…

The guarantees Israel may have received--if any--won't be worth the paper they're written on if past "guarantees" are the model.

When Israel was repeatedly forced to go to war in Lebanon for similar reasons as it has in Gaza (Israelis on their own side of the border being repeatedly targeted by Arabs), it was also given promises to hasten up its withdrawal and accept ceasefires.

Despite such assurances, such as UNSC Resolutions 1559 and 1701 specifying the need for Hizbullah to disarm, those "guarantees" became cruel jokes. Indeed, Hizbullah is now more--not less--powerful today than before earlier ceasefires Israel was prodded by another American Secretary of State and United Nations to accept.

Arafat used to laugh at such hudna ceasefires. Like the Arabs of Hamas, after his own Fatah/PLO fighters committed one atrocity after another, he counted on the international community of oil and petro-dollar-adicted, pusillanimous hypocrites to pull his own and his buddies' chestnuts out of the fire.

The current "moderate" Mahmoud Abbas's mentor, Arafat agreed to ceasefires which he called "the Peace of the Quraysh." The latter was modeled on the temporary halt in hostilities which the Muslim prophet, Muhammad, allowed his Meccan enemies so he could muster the strength to deliver the final blow.

And just as Abbas now smiles to the West in exchange for billions of dollars in support, Arafat & Co. also had an earlier tradition of saying one thing in English and quite another in Arabic to his own folks back home. Indeed, Fatah's showcased model "moderate," Faisal al-Husseini, openly called any "negotiations" with Jews merely a "Trojan Horse"--calling for "Palestine" from the River to the Sea…an Arab state which replaces Israel, not existing along side of it.

This is important because, after this latest round of fighting, at the same time that Israel will still have to deal with the undefeated "bad cops" of Hamas in Gaza, who have already begun to celebrate their victory with news of the current ceasefire, after the first of the new year, yet another major headache will start anew.

After his re-inauguration, President Obama will likely once again increase the pressure on Netanyahu to turn Tel Aviv into another Sderot by forcing Israel to cave in to Fatah's alleged "good cops" by withdrawing to the '49 armistice lines, making Israel an absurdly vulnerable 9 to 15 miles wide at its waist, where most of its population is crammed into. Recall that at the close of the June '67 War, Israel was promised by the final draft of UNSC Resolution 242 that it would not have to do this.

Whether with a more honest Hamas, or with a ($$$) game-playing Abbas, there can be no peace because Abbas's so-called "moderates"--whose army is being trained, supplied, and funded by America--have openly stated that in any negotiations with Jews, their job is simply to take while Israel's job is simply to give. Hamas will certainly not let itself be outdone by its rival for power and purse, Fatah, on such matters. Given this reality, forget about Israel being willingly granted the territorial compromise promised by UNSC Resolution 242 and such.

The fight over the settlement issue is largely about Israel getting 242's necessary buffer. And with the re-election of an American leader who is far too comfortable with Islamists such as the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and who is also on record as saying that Israel would be crazy not to accept such a "peace" which requires the abandonment of 242's promise, Israel's leaders will likely be put to one of the most severe tests the nation has ever faced.

By appearing to support Israel vis-ŕ-vis the Hamas bad cops (but not really allowing Israel victory over its rejectionist enemies), the Obama Administration and the ever-hostile State Department will expect Israel, in return for such "support," to just say Amen! to Washington's resumed demands in Judea and Samaria (aka the "West Bank") on behalf of Abbas's good cops.

None of the above is how true peace comes about between enemies anywhere. It usually happens in one of two ways...

The first way involves a total defeat of one's enemies, with the terms of peace dictated by the victor and/or an official organization.

As we are seeing happening right now yet again, Israel has held back in pursuit of this for a number of reasons, including fear of the backlash from an assortment of hypocrites elsewhere. For the latter, Jews are not allowed to really "win" their wars--even given the fact that their enemies seek their total destruction.

While firebombing Dresden and nuking Hiroshima were the Allies' answers to their enemies; and gassed Kurds, the Anfal Campaign, genocide in the Sudan, the "Hama Solution," Black September, and the like have been the answers to how Arabs have handled their own "problems," Jews are expected to just target the exact person who launched the missile at their children. And when they don't, give Arabs a taste of their own medicine, or non-combatants get hit because Arabs use their own people as human shields, Israel will predictably be assailed for its alleged inhumanity.

The second way that enemies make peace is via mutual concessions--real compromise.

Regardless of how difficult a task it will be--especially given the age-old Arab subjugating mindset which states that the entire region is simply "purely Arab patrimony" and part of the Dar ul-Islam--if true peace is ever to be attained, at some point Arab leaders must be honest and openly state to their people that others, besides themselves, have legitimate rights in the region too. So far, all of Israel's alleged peace partners are simply plotting its destruction--some sooner, others later--and then get angry because at least some Jews refuse to play along...

The reason Arabs, who one way or another came to live in the Mandate of Palestine (many, if not most, just since the late 19th century), have not made progress towards peace with Israel is because "peace" is not what--be they Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Fatah, and so forth--really want.

At best, the vast majority aim for Arafat's Peace of the Quraysh. And for this, Israel is supposed to give away the store, exposing its kids' necks further than it already has.

Israel must beware of this latest ceasefire, regardless of the pressure those in Washington and elsewhere will apply. There is no doubt that Iran and others will try to take advantage of the lifting of Israel's naval blockade and such.

Food, clothing, water, and other necessities of life have been allowed to enter Gaza freely overland by truck after inspection to insure that boxes of light bulbs are not grenades instead.

There has been no existential crisis in Gaza caused by Israel's necessary naval blockade. What the latter does allow for, however, is some sort of way to reduce the amount of weapons already being supplied to Hamas anyway. Think of the tens of thousands of mortars, rockets, and missiles yet again which have been launched against Israeli civilians with the blockade in place. Ships will allow even larger, more dangerous armaments to arrive to kill Jews. And more of them.

When America imposed a naval blockade of Cuba during the missile crisis in October 1962, it did not back down until its demands were met--and Cuba had never attacked America.

Nations have indeed imposed blockades for less compelling reasons than Israel.

Israel is a mere splinter when compared to America in size and has been constantly attacked and terrorized by the Arabs of Gaza. Like an America which dwarfs it, it too certainly should not be made to accept half measures (or far less) when it comes to matters of its security.

If the blockade of Hamastan is to be lifted, as the current ceasefire calls for, it must be conditional and done under utmost scrutiny and supervision. I seriously doubt that the will exists, outside of Israel itself, to do this. Again, look north to Hizbullahland in Lebanon for what is more likely to emerge from such folly--despite the promises and assurances Israel received from America and others there as well.

Hamas's older brothers in the Ikhwan now rule adjacent Egypt, the largest nation in the "Arab" world, armed to the teeth with state-of-the-art weaponry, courtesy of Uncle Sam and others as well (not to mention Hamas's primary ally, the Iran connection).

Many of us right here in America knew that such days would soon be upon us if the results of the 2012 American election turned out as they did.